February Bride of the Month: Samantha Pride

The love story began in the summer of 2012 in the city of Salvador, Brazil where our February Bride of the Month Samantha first met her husband Tommaso.

Samantha and Tommaso’s relationship was long-distance right from the start. Samantha resided in the United States while Tommaso lived in Italy. The pair knew that the distance between their two hearts was not an obstacle, rather a beautiful reminder of just how strong true love can be.

Tommaso proposed to Samantha during a visit to her parents’ home in Bend, Oregon. Samantha nearly cancelled the trip due to a new job opportunity, not knowing Tommaso would be waiting there to ask for her hand in marriage. Luckily things worked out, and Tommaso was able to surprise Samantha by proposing to her just before dinner one night. Samantha recounted the evening, saying; “It was a lovely moment because it was just the two of us. The rest of the night was devoted to reliving all the wonderful times we have had together, and all that were going to come!”

No strangers to traveling the world, Samantha and Tommaso decided to have a destination wedding set in Italy. They chose to embrace the country’s natural beauty for the décor by incorporating purple, white, and green flowers while the centerpieces and table names reflected different fruit from the region.

Samantha wore a beautiful Sophia Tolli wedding gown on her special day and explained that her dress shopping experience at Le Bella Donna was unique, because it was truly about what she wanted. She felt that her judgment was trusted at Le Bella Donna and that allowed her to find the perfect dress.

The wedding was intimate and spoke to creating a union for two families who were, in some cases, meeting for the first time. Samantha and Tommaso each had one witness; here in the States, we would call them a maid of honor or best man. Samantha’s maid of honor, Gwen has been her best friend since pre-school. Samantha shared that Gwen created a calming presence that was essential for a destination wedding where she was still learning the language.

When we asked Samantha to tell us about her best memory of the wedding, her answer was so heart-warming we wanted to share her exact words:

“The day will always be special for me, because I love Tommaso and our wedding was such a celebration of that love. What made the day outstanding was that two families were really coming together for the first time. My family and friends from the States were, in some chances, meeting each other for the first time. While my new Italian side was also interacting with them for the first time at the wedding! There was a lot of reaching across and stabs at communicating that both sides did. It made me extremely happy that all these people got to meet because of Tommaso and I.”